From Brazil to Mattituck: Morais honored with Helen Wright Prince Award

Rafael Morais sat in his first American classroom, seeing nothing but white walls. The words meant nothing. The teacher’s voice was just noise.

He was a teenager, thousands of miles from his native Brazil — and completely lost.

“I didn’t understand one word, and I was just going through the motions,” he said.

Nearly two decades later, Morais was surrounded by colleagues, students and family at the Mattituck High School library as Southold’s Anti-Bias Task Force honored him with the 2025 Helen Wright Prince Award, given to individuals who promote diversity and inclusion across the North Fork.

“My job here is trying to make it easy for the students, so they don’t have to go through what I went through,” said Mr. Morais, who serves as neighborhood liaison for the Mattituck-Cutchogue Union Free School District.

Supervisor Al Krupski also presented Morais with a proclamation from the town at the heartwarming event on Thursday, Oct. 9.

“It’s an honor just to have my name associated with Helen Prince,” Mr. Morais said. “I’m very thankful for this award. It’s something I’m never going to forget.”

His path to the North Fork started in Brazil. At 19, he sold his motorcycle and used the money to buy a plane ticket to the United States, landing in Minnesota with dreams of playing professional soccer.

He played in a league there, but the six-month season didn’t pay enough to travel back and forth to his native home. He found himself stuck in a country thousands of miles from his family.

“What did he do? He did what Raf always does. He found a way forward,” said Ilana Finnegan, curriculum director for instruction and innovation at Mattituck-Cutchogue Union Free School District.

His father had a friend in New York, so Mr. Morais made the move. He worked construction to pay rent and played soccer on weekends, until a full scholarship to Long Island University gave him a shot at college. There, he discovered a passion for coaching and recruiting underprivileged students that changed his life’s trajectory of becoming a Spanish teacher and returning to Brazil.

Instead, he moved to Mattituck, where he started coaching the girls’ soccer team. He eventually became a teaching assistant. When the district began seeing rapid growth in immigrant families and students who weren’t fluent in English, he stepped up to become neighborhood liaison.

In this vital role, Mr. Morais checks in regularly on immigrant students and their families, making sure they have food, emotional support and whatever else they need to succeed in and out of school.

“Mr. Morais has not only imagined a more just and inclusive world, he has worked tirelessly to build it,” said LeRoy Heyliger, a founding member of the Anti-Bias Task Force.

The award commemorates the late Helen Wright Prince, who passed away in 2013 at age 101. Ms. Prince devoted her life to supporting children and families in need, spending decades assisting those living in local migrant labor camps — including a well-known camp once located on Cox Lane in Cutchogue.

The task force selected October for the presentation in recognition of Bullying Awareness Month. Past recipients include longtime Greenport basketball coach Al Edwards, former superintendent of Mattituck-Cutchogue Schools Dr. Anne Smith, Long Island Head Start North Fork center supervisor Pauline Smith, and current Southold Town Board member Brian Mealy.

Superintendent Shawn Petretti praised Mr. Morais for going beyond his job description.

“Thank you, Rafael, for being who you are, for always pushing forward, for knowing when to look past boundaries and job descriptions, and for constantly going above and beyond for everyone that you work with,” Mr. Petretti said. “You’ve helped move our district forward and have touched the lives of so many students and families.”